


The Night Before

by zania330



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Marriage, Panic Attacks, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-23 19:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20199499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zania330/pseuds/zania330
Summary: It's the night before his wedding, and Carlos is a bigger mess of anxiety than he ever expected to be ...it's a good thing that his future wife is just as anxious...or, a phone call between Carlos and Mal, on the night before their wedding.





	The Night Before

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pfieffer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pfieffer/gifts).

> A one-shot inspired by some RP interactions between me and pfieffer. Happy Birthday!
> 
> ( this has not been beta-read )

Breathing in and out as slowly as he could, Carlos tilted his head back until it hit the wall behind him. Sweat coated his forehead, but at least he had managed to wipe away most of his fallen tears by now.

By tomorrow, he’d be married to Mal. 

He should’ve been thrilled. He _ was _ thrilled. 

All the major planning had been put into Evie’s hands for the occasion, leaving him and Mal free to go along for the ride. In fact, he had been totally fine earlier today ...but there was always that voice in the back of his mind that kept insisting something was bound to go wrong. It just so happened that the voice decided to be especially loud tonight, which was how he found himself recovering from a panic attack just now.

Well, better to get it out now than tomorrow when standing at the end of the aisle.

Turning his head, Carlos looked to the empty space on his left. Mal had her own separate room, somewhere in the hotel. Supposedly, it was bad luck to see your partner the night before your wedding, and they went along with it, not exactly caring at the time. Carlos was _ really _ regretting that decision now though. In retrospect, being left alone in a hotel room, allowing his anxious thoughts to fester, had been a bad idea. He never should’ve sent Jay away earlier that night.

More than anything, he wanted Mal with him. He wanted to feel her hand on his head, playing with his hair. It was a greater comfort than he would ever admit.

Sniffling and rubbing his tear stained eyes, Carlos reached for his phone on the nightstand. Maybe he wasn’t allowed to see Mal, but there was nothing against hearing her voice. He needed to call her, just to hear her affirmation.

Before he could even unlock his phone though, the black screen lit up, making him squint. The phone vibrated in his hand, and reading the caller ID across the screen, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Mal?”

_ “...hey, pup.” _

Her voice was quiet and tired, and if Carlos listened closely, he could’ve sworn that he heard her sniffling. “Is everything alright?” He asked, his own worries forgotten for the moment in favor of Mal’s well-being.

_ “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” _ She affirmed, not a shift in her tone.

“You don’t sound good.” He got no response from that. “...talk to me?”

Had she been crying too?

A tired laugh came through the phone. He could almost envision how sleep-deprived she must be. Dealing with wedding stuff was tiring. _ “This is going to sound so sappy,” _ She began. _ “But I miss you, like crazy.” _

He blinked a couple of times. That certainly hadn’t been what he had expected to hear from her. “Really?”

_ “Yeah,” _ She responded. _ “I wish you were next to me in bed.” _

“Well,” He chuckled, quietly. “That makes two of us.”

_ “Remind me why we went along with this stupid tradition again? We usually never do anything traditionally.” _

“Good question,” He gave in, laying back against the bed. The phone remained in his hand, right by his ear. “I guess because people insisted we do it? Or we didn’t want to jinx anything? Or we didn’t really care at the time?”

_ “Try all of the above.” _

“Sounds about right.”

He heard her sigh, and then some shuffling. It was probably her moving around in bed. _ “You know, I don’t know who preached that weddings are supposed to be the happiest day of your life. I feel like a fucking mess, just thinking about it happening tomorrow. I’m tired of it.” _

Carlos’ brows furrowed, and felt his stomach sink. “Do… Do you not want to get married?” Oh god, was it because of him? Maybe they should’ve held off the wedding for another year.

_ “No, of course I do,” _ She insisted, quickly. _ “I think that I do…” _

“You think??”

That didn’t help to hear either!

_ “No! Sorry, sorry! That’s not what I’m trying to say,” _ She began to backtrack. _ “Look, if I’m going to get married to anyone, of course I want it to be you ...I’m just wondering if having everyone we know at our ceremony was a good idea. I mean, we could’ve gone to a courthouse, or eloped. Done something way less public.” _

Well, first, it wasn't everyone. They had known originally that they wanted all their friends present. As for family ...well, that was kind of a rough subject, so that much was avoided in the planning. It was quite a small ceremony, but as far as Mal was concerned, a crowd was still a crowd.

“I didn’t think crowds made you nervous,” Carlos admitted. Usually he was the one that tried to avoid people.

_“Only if the crowd is focused on me, which is definitely going to be the case when I walk down that aisle,”_ She pointed out, and Carlos’ listened to her exhale. _“Damn it, it’s like I’m seventeen, and panicking about Cotillion all over again…”_

Cotillion.

As fun as the night had turned out in the end (ignoring Uma’s intervention), it was still the reason that Mal found herself breaking up with Ben, after all the pressure she had faced preparing for it. That thought didn’t do much to ease Carlos, but he tried to pull himself together, at least for now. He was sure that Mal needed the reassurance more in that moment.

“Cotillion involved almost every single student at Auradon Prep, and several royal court members, right?” He reminded her, focusing on using as much rationality he could. “This isn’t even fifty people, Mal, and it’s definitely not getting broadcasted across any part of the country either. Everyone who’s there is someone that cares about you.”

_ “You know Uma and her pirates are coming, right?” _

“...okay, _ most _ people there care about you.” He couldn’t exactly fight Mal on that point, but it was actually Carlos’ request to have Uma’s crew invited. Maybe Mal and Uma weren’t the best of friends, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats anymore these days. “But they’ll behave, and if they don’t, they’ll have to deal with Evie.”

And frankly, everyone knew you weren’t supposed to disappoint Evie. Disappointing Evie wasn’t a pretty thing…

_ “You’re right,” _ He heard her mutter in the next moment, and it seemed like she was trying to calm down. _ “You’re right, you’re totally right.” _

“And as for walking down the aisle? You’re going to look gorgeous, so don’t worry about it.”

_ “You haven’t even seen my jumpsu--” _ She cut herself off. _ “Ah, my dress.” _

Carlos remembered overhearing her and Evie discussing something about a “jumpsuit” rather than a traditional dress. He didn’t know much else, but he wasn't surprised that Mal didn't want to look like a total princess at her own wedding. He liked the idea, and frankly, he couldn’t wait to see her wearing it while walking down the aisle.

“It doesn’t matter. You always look great.”

She chuckled. _ “Thanks.” _

“...hey, Mal?”

_ “Yeah?” _

“You know that I love you, right?”

_ “Yeah, I know it,” _ There was no hesitation in her reply, and Carlos hoped he wasn’t mistaken, but he could hear the smile in her voice now. _ “Thanks, pup. I really needed to hear all of that.” _

“Any time.”

_ “...” _

“...hey, Mal?”

Another chuckle came through the other end. _ “Yes?” _

“You love me too, right?”

_ “Yes. Yes, of course I love you.” _

He nodded a little, taking in her words. “Right, okay,” He breathed in and out. “Sorry, I just… I want to make sure, you know?”

_ “Yeah, I get that, _” She assured him with ease in her tone.

“...think you can say it again?”

_ “I love you.” _

“...maybe one more time?”

Maybe Carlos was pushing it, but he could hear Mal’s laughter on the other end. He hoped that was a good sign. _ “I love you, Carlos,” _ She promised him. _ “And I’ll say it again as many times as you need to hear it tomorrow too, okay?” _

That brought a little smile to Carlos’ face. “Okay.”

Knowing what was coming tomorrow, he felt a lot more certain. He could only hope that Mal was feeling the same way now. This was _ their _ big day, after all.

Looking over the bedside at the alarm clock though, he winced at the time. “Did you want to sleep now?” He asked, remembering how tired Mal seemed earlier. Just because he could never sleep well didn’t mean he wanted to keep her up with him.

_ “Nah,” _ She answered, her answer coming as a surprise to him. _ “Actually, you think we could talk for a little longer? I still miss you, you know.” _

His smile grew. They were both going to be dead tired in the morning, but right now, that fact didn’t matter. “Yeah. Yeah, we can keep talking.”

He couldn’t wait for tomorrow.


End file.
